05:39 PM EDT on Friday, May 25, 2007
By MARK BOONE / WCNC
Crosses honor fallen Iraq soldiers
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STATESVILLE, N.C. -- Nearly 3,500 wooden crosses were placed at a Statesville park Friday in a display its creators are calling the “Arlington Cemetery of the South.”
Each cross placed in Mac Anderson Park represents a U.S. soldier who has died in the Iraq War.
The project was spearheaded by Summer Lipford, an Iredell County mother whose son, Army PFC Steven Sirko, died in 2005 while serving in Iraq.
“It’s a place to come and reflect and to get a visual idea of how many of our troops have died,” said James Starowicz, a Vietnam War veteran who was among the volunteers installing the crosses. “We’re just not honoring them, and too many people aren’t even thinking about the war.”
Rick Warner, another Vietnam War veteran who was volunteering at the park, said he hoped the Memorial Day tribute would be as inspiring as the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C.
“This is a lot, a lot of crosses, a lot of soldiers dead,” Warner told WCNC.
The crosses will remain on display in the park at 433 Race Road in Statesville through Monday evening.
The display will coincide with ‘Prayer and Peace’ Vigils. The vigils will be held at the park from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Monday.
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